Don Read is a Certified Taxation Law Specialist whose practice for the last 20 years has focused on advising family law attorneys on tax problems arising in the resolution of marital dissolutions. He was the chair of the Taxation Committee of the Family Law Section of the American Bar Association from 2008-2011 and has been selected as a Northern California SuperLawyer for 2008 through 2015. In May 2010, he obtained a ground-breaking private letter ruling allowing registered domestic partners to split their community income on their federal income tax returns. See Wall Street Journal, June 5, 2010. In 2015 he was appointed to the 21-member Internal Revenue Service Advisory Council and is currently the only California attorney serving on IRSAC.Read IRS article here

Don assists family law attorneys in structuring marital settlements, drafting tax-sensitive provisions of agreements and stipulations; preparing orders and agreements; dividing stock options; retirement plans (non-governmental QDRO's and non-qualified deferred compensation DRO's) and IRA's (§408(d)(6) instruments); reviewing marital settlement agreements; participating in negotiations and hearings; applying for private letter rulings; and general tax and business consultation. He has qualified as an expert witness in the Superior Court for Santa Clara County on stock options in marital dissolutions.

Don is tax counsel to Lakin-Spears in Santa Clara County and has consulted with leading Bay Area family law firms, such as The Hanson Family Law Group in San Mateo County, Pierson, Coates & Palash and Kaye-Moser in San Francisco County, Simborg-Killingsworth in Marin County, Staley-Jobson and Shane Ford in Alameda County; Whiting, Fallon & Ross in Contra Costa County; Roger Lewis in Napa County and John Munsill in Sacramento County. See a list of other leading family law attorney-clients in the About tab.

The discussion of family law tax topics on this site is cursory, may not be up to date and is intended only for practicing family law attorneys. It does not constitute legal or tax advice and is intended only to alert lawyers to potential tax issues. This flag symbol appears in pages on this site discussing family law tax topics to highlight that different rules may apply when non-citizens or non-residents are involved. The discussions generally assume that the parties are United States citizens and California residents.

Pursuant to Treasury Department Circular 230, nothing in this website (including attachments) is intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed herein.